In the industrial field for the production of products, such as for example packaging boxes of various sizes, using a relatively rigid material, such as for example paper, cardboard, plastic material, composite or other, it is known to cut a flat sheet from a continuous strip of the chosen material, the flat sheet having a development which comprises all the walls of the product to be made by subsequent folding.
Known cutting machines, suitable for cutting the strip and making the sheet, normally comprise one or more cutting devices, each of which has a single cutting blade.
In particular a cutting device is known in which the cutting blade consists of a circular disc, sharpened along its peripheral edge and rotating around its axis of rotation. The diameter of the known disc is normally comprised between about 50 mm and about 150 mm, its thickness is comprised between about 1 mm and about 3 mm and the cutting angle is comprised between 30° and 90°.
The known cutting device has the disadvantage, however, that it is effective only when the material to be cut has a thickness of no more than about 3 mm, and is no longer effective when the thickness of the material exceeds this value, as nowadays happens more and more often in the field of production of large-size boxes, or other products made using pre-cut sheets.
In fact, with known cutting devices, it often happens that the cutting disc is not able to completely cut the material to be cut, that is, from side to side, because the peripheral cutting edge cannot pass through the whole thickness of the material, and it is therefore necessary to make a second working step to complete the cut, which entails an unacceptable increase in production costs.
Documents JP-A-2001162582, JP-A-H0280234 and DE-A-102008005775 describe cutting devices of a known type.
There is therefore a need to perfect a cutting device for cutting relatively rigid materials, such as for example paper, cardboard, plastic materials, composites or suchlike, which can overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the state of the art.
In particular, one purpose of the present invention is to obtain a cutting device that is able to cut effectively, completely and with a single working step, a relatively rigid material, such as for example paper, cardboard, plastic material, composite or other, having a thickness up to a maximum of about 10 mm.
Another purpose of the present invention is to perfect a method that allows to cut effectively, completely and with a single working step, a relatively rigid material, such as for example paper, cardboard, plastic material, composite or other, having a thickness up to a maximum of about 10 mm, using, among other things, a cutting disc of the known type.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.